Here's who is running for Durham mayor and city council

State of play: A primary election will be held Oct. 10.

• The two mayoral candidates with the most primary votes will face off on Election Day November 7.
• Three City Council seats are up for grabs. The top 6 finishers in the primary move on to the November election.

Here's who is running for mayor:

• Former City Council member and current Democratic State Sen. Mike Woodard.
• Current City Council member Leonardo (Leo) Williams, who operates the popular Southern African restaurants Zweli's and Ekhaya.
• Current City Council member DeDreana Freeman, who was elected to the council in 2017.
• Charlitta Burruss, a local community leader who previously ran for mayor in 2021 and City Council in 2019.
• Sylvester Williams, a local pastor who has run numerous times for local office in the past.
• Nick Pettiford
• Jontae Dunston
• Marshall Williams Jr.

Here's who is running for council:

• Nate Baker, an urban planning professional who has been a member of the Durham Planning Commision since 2018.
• Shanetta Burris, a program manager at Lillian’s List, an organization that recruits women to run for office.
• Incumbent council member Javiera Caballero, who became the first Latino council member in 2018 and unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2021.
• J.J. Campbell, a North Durham resident.
• Waldo Fenner, a resident of the Walltown neighborhood who studies behavioral health.
• Bonita Green, the chair of the Merrick-Moore Community Development Group.
• Incumbent council member Monique Holsey-Hyman, who was appointed in 2022 when Charlie Reece resigned from the council.

• Shelia Ann Huggins, a lawyer who previously was a real estate manager for the city and ran for City Council in 2017.
• Khalilah Karim, a field director for the N.C. League of Conservation Voters and a former organizer for the union advocacy group Service Employees International Union.
• Carl Rist, a consultant who previously worked at Prosperity Now, a nonprofit working on economic development for low-income families, for many years.
• Sherri Zann Rosenthal, the city's longtime deputy city attorney who retired in 2020.
• Renee Vaughan, a researcher at Duke University who has served on the city's Homeless Services Advisory Committee.

The big picture: The Durham City Council has been divided — especially on the issue of approving rezonings for new subdivisions in the city — over the past two years.

• And an investigation into city council member Monique Holsey-Hyman over an alleged extortion attempt of a local developer revealed serious tensions between council members.